L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Trims Holdings in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP reduced its stake in Starbucks Co. (NASDAQ:SBUX) by 11.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,751 shares of the coffee company’s stock after selling 775 shares during the quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Starbucks were worth $525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Starbucks during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Collier Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Starbucks in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. DT Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Starbucks by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. DT Investment Partners LLC now owns 428 shares of the coffee company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Starbucks during the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Starbucks in the 3rd quarter valued at about $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 72.29% of the company’s stock.

Starbucks Price Performance

NASDAQ SBUX opened at $111.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $97.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $95.10. Starbucks Co. has a 12 month low of $71.55 and a 12 month high of $112.62. The company has a market capitalization of $126.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.00.

Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The coffee company reported $0.69 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.01. Starbucks had a negative return on equity of 44.97% and a net margin of 9.73%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.90 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Starbucks Co. will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Starbucks Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $0.61 per share. This represents a $2.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Starbucks’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Starbucks

In other Starbucks news, CFO Rachel Ruggeri sold 1,452 shares of Starbucks stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.07, for a total value of $143,849.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 65,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,503,747.36. The trade was a 2.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on SBUX. BTIG Research increased their price target on shares of Starbucks from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Starbucks from $98.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on Starbucks from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Starbucks from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.33.

About Starbucks

Starbucks Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a roaster, marketer, and retailer of coffee worldwide. The company operates through three segments: North America, International, and Channel Development. Its stores offer coffee and tea beverages, roasted whole beans and ground coffees, single serve products, and ready-to-drink beverages; and various food products, such as pastries, breakfast sandwiches, and lunch items.